Colombia runs public procurement through SECOP II, a single transactional platform operated by Colombia Compra Eficiente where state entities and suppliers conduct the entire contracting process online. Suppliers (including foreign firms) create a free supplier account in SECOP II to receive opportunity notifications and submit bids. Colombia also maintains the RUP (Registro Unico de Proponentes) at chambers of commerce, required for many processes, but foreign persons/entities without domicile or branch in Colombia are not obligated to register in the RUP and instead accredit qualifying requirements (habilitantes) directly to the contracting entity per the tender terms. A foreign legal entity is not required to establish a Colombian branch (sucursal) merely to submit offers; a branch is only required if awarded certain contracts (works, service provision, concession, or any contract requiring constant presence in Colombia).
SECOP II (Sistema Electronico para la Contratacion Publica II)
Agencia Nacional de Contratacion Publica - Colombia Compra Eficiente (ANCP-CCE)
Foreign companies eligibleNo local entity required to bid
Foreign persons/entities WITHOUT domicile or branch (sucursal) in Colombia are NOT required to register in the RUP; they accredit legal, financial, and organizational capacity plus experience directly to the contracting entity as specified in the tender documents (pliegos) and in SECOP II. Foreign legal entities are NOT required to establish a Colombian branch merely to submit offers; a sucursal is only required when awarded contracts for works, service provision, concession, or any contract whose execution requires constant presence in Colombia (Codigo de Comercio arts. 472 y 474). The RUP is otherwise mandatory for domestic proponents (and foreign proponents that DO have a branch/domicile) in most competitive modalities.
Go to the SECOP II supplier registration form and click Registro. Complete the user data; the password must be at least 8 characters including letters, numbers and special characters. Set the time zone to the supplier's location (Colombian suppliers use UTC-05:00 Bogota). Confirm/activate the account via the email link, then log in. When creating the organization account, select Type 'Proveedor', business area 'Privado', and the organization type that corresponds (natural person, S.A.S., LLC/Ltda., corporation, etc.), entering the entity name, tax id (NIT without verification digit, or foreign tax id), city, notification email and legal representative data.
Fill the mandatory profile fields (marked with red asterisk) and indicate the types of goods/services offered (using the UNSPSC classifier), the contract value range of interest, and the regions where the supplier can provide goods/services. SECOP II then notifies the registered supplier of matching contracting processes started by state entities. Consult the CCE 'Guia de uso del SECOP II para proveedores' for full platform guidance.
The RUP is required for a large number of contracting processes. Domestic proponents (and foreign proponents with a Colombian branch/domicile) register through the Chamber of Commerce of their principal domicile (online or in person) using the RUES form, presenting RUT (DIAN), ID, social-security/payroll compliance, IFRS financial statements, accountant certification, and third-party experience certificates classified by UNSPSC. Foreign persons/entities WITHOUT domicile or branch in Colombia are NOT obligated to have RUP and instead accredit this information directly to the contracting entity in the manner set out in the pliegos and in SECOP II. RUP is renewed annually between January 1 and April 5.
For each process, the state entity defines the qualifying requirements: (i) legal capacity, (ii) experience, (iii) financial capacity, and (iv) organizational capacity. Foreign suppliers prove these by presenting documents proving legal capacity, financial and organizational capacity in their country of origin. Legal capacity: foreign natural persons present ID (cedula de extranjeria or passport); foreign legal entities present documents proving existence, corporate purpose and legal representative per home-country law (e.g., competent-authority certificate, articles/bylaws). Powers of attorney or representative appointments (poder/nombramiento) must show the granted faculties and the representative's ID. Financial/organizational: audited prior-year financial statements per the pliegos, with foreign-currency conversion elements. Experience: third-party certificates or contract copies meeting Circular Externa No. 17 de 2015.
Documents issued abroad must be apostilled (Hague Apostille countries) or consularized/legalized, and documents in a foreign language must be translated, per the rules detailed in Circular Externa No. 17 del 11 de febrero de 2015 issued by Colombia Compra Eficiente (covering apostille/consularization of public documents, presumption of authenticity of private documents issued abroad, evidentiary value of copies, and foreign-language documents).
Colombia uses five selection procedures: licitacion publica (most contracts), seleccion abreviada (simplified, incl. reverse auction for uniform goods/services), concurso de meritos (consultants/interventoria), minima cuantia (low-value simplified), and contratacion directa (specific cases). Registered suppliers monitor SECOP II notifications and the Plan Anual de Adquisiciones, then submit bids online in SECOP II following each modality's flow. A foreign legal entity awarded a works, service, concession or constant-presence contract must then constitute a Colombian branch (sucursal).
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Create free accountSECOP II supplier account is free. RUP (only if applicable, i.e., domestic/branch proponents) per VUE 2026 rates: inscription/renewal 831,000 COP; updates 444,000 COP; certificates 75,000 COP. Foreign firms without domicile/branch incur no RUP fee (exempt).
Varies per tender — not a fixed registration time.
Ley 80 de 1993 (Estatuto General de Contratacion de la Administracion Publica); Ley 1150 de 2007 (created the SECOP and, art. 6, the RUP); Decreto 1082 de 2015 (Decreto Unico Reglamentario del sector, incl. art. 2.2.1.1.1.5.2 and 2.2.1.1.1.6.4 on foreign proponents); Circular Externa No. 17 de 2015 CCE (apostille/legalization/foreign-language documents); Codigo de Comercio arts. 472 y 474 (branch obligation on award).
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This guide is grounded in official sources, last verified 2026-07-20.